leemell
Conductor
Official Groundbreaking on Jan. 8th.
. They weren't just the lowest bidders, they also had the highest technical scores as well.Dragados/Flatiron/Shimmick selected to build 65 mile segment from Fresno to north of Bakersfield. Bid amounted to $1,234,567,890, fully $500 million below the next lowest bid and below the $1.5-2 billion anticipated expense.
James Fallows seems to have a possibility to get a reply from Dan Richard, chairman of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, within a very short amount of time - this time, about the Dragados bid and how it can be so low:Dragados/Flatiron/Shimmick selected to build 65 mile segment from Fresno to north of Bakersfield. Bid amounted to $1,234,567,890, fully $500 million below the next lowest bid and below the $1.5-2 billion anticipated expense.
Large commercial bids are not a appropriate target for casual number games. If there is future legal or financial dispute then submitting a bid which risks looking careless or haphazard might come back to haunt you.Why do I get a feeling that they were landing in that general range and someone in accounting decided to have some fun?
Late last Friday the federal Surface Transportation Board voted 2-1 that its approval of the high speed rail project between Fresno and Bakersfield “categorically preempts” lawsuits filed against the project based on the California Environmental Quality Act:
Applying the well-established preemption principles here, the Board concludes that CEQA is categorically preempted by § 10501(b) in connection with the Line. As the Board has previously found, CEQA is a state preclearance requirement that, by its very nature, could be used to deny or significantly delay an entity’s right to construct a line that the Board has specifically authorized, thus impinging upon the Board’s exclusive jurisdiction over rail transportation.
...The STB’s ruling is that third parties cannot sue using CEQA to block HSR, because that would represent a use of state law to trump federal authority. The Fresno Bee’s Tim Sheehan reports that at least seven lawsuits against HSR are likely to be affected by this, including suits brought by Kings County, Kern County, Shafter, Bakersfield, and others. All those lawsuits that rely on CEQA are, presumably, going to be thrown out of court.
God I hope they don't pick shinkansen style trainsets. The tiny windows make them feel like an airplane on the inside. I'm hoping for siemens velaro trains, nice big windows, bright open interiors, plus being able to see through the front windshield in the lead cars.
They would bring some unconventional design to America though, and god knows when it comes to trains America needs different.God I hope they don't pick shinkansen style trainsets. The tiny windows make them feel like an airplane on the inside. I'm hoping for siemens velaro trains, nice big windows, bright open interiors, plus being able to see through the front windshield in the lead cars.
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